Laura Ashley has defied the gloom on the high street, reporting a rise in sales today and predicting more growth in the months ahead.The business, which has 229 stores and a growing website, said like-for-like sales rose 5.3% between February and the end of May, thanks in large part to a leap in online business. The furnishings and fashion group, best known for its floral prints, painted an optimistic outlook although it conceded there were still pressures on consumers.

"Despite the current economic uncertainties, we remain confident of continued growth in 2010 built on the platform of a strong balance sheet with no bank borrowing, a strong brand and a distinctive product offering," it said in a trading statement.

Laura Ashley shares closed 1p up, or 7.27%, at 14.75p after the company predicted full-year trading will be in line with expectations.

The group said online sales were up 74% in the first four months of its financial year and although mail order sales fell by 26%, its combined direct sales business rose 42%.

It also expanded overseas ventures with a new partner in South Korea and now has franchise stores selling its quintessentially British designs in 26 countries.

At home, the company that began life when Laura and Bernard Ashley started printing fabric on their kitchen table in 1953, has benefited from a revival of florals over the last year. That wave of nostalgia has also buoyed up Cath Kidston's chintzy empire, which was valued at around £100m when she recently sold a majority stake to the US private equity firm TA Associates.

The department store chain John Lewis has also bucked the trend of high street turmoil in recent weeks and today reported its department store sales rose by a quarter in the final week of May when compared with a year earlier. The company said it was helped by people heading to the shops in the miserable weather and that TV sales picked up ahead of the World Cup.

The latest survey and official data on the high street have been mixed, pointing to consumers weighed down by rising food prices, high bills and worried about job prospects. But Freddie George, retail analyst at broker Seymour Pierce said the John Lewis report gave a brighter picture.

"Although it is clear that the John Lewis Partnership is outperforming the wider market, these figures indicate that consumer spending remains surprisingly robust despite concerns about the outlook. As yet, higher fuel prices do not appear to have impacted sales in the out-of-town shopping centres," he said.